Invest
Tesla is the most shorted stock in the world
Despite the latest Reddit craze, GameStop did not take the title of the most shorted stock in 2020. Instead, Tesla has emerged victorious, having cost short-sellers over US$40 billion.
Tesla is the most shorted stock in the world
Despite the latest Reddit craze, GameStop did not take the title of the most shorted stock in 2020. Instead, Tesla has emerged victorious, having cost short-sellers over US$40 billion.
Tesla has had a massive year, cementing itself as an automotive company and a clean energy provider in less than 12 months, and propelling its owner Elon Musk to top spot on the richest person on the planet list – an inch above Amazon’s Jeff Bezos before Mr Bezos reclaimed the crown in February.
On the back of all of these successes and more, Tesla stock was the single best-performing S&P 500 stock of 2020.
As a result, Tesla was also the stock that cost short-sellers an estimated US$40.1 billion. And according to data presented by Trading Platforms, this is the biggest loss from the short-selling position from any stock, with the next largest recorded loss from Apple at US$6.7 billion.
While short selling has long been a popular strategy for stock traders who are willing to take on the risk of capital loss, the tactic’s fame has soared in recent months when self-proclaimed Reddit stock market activists initiated what is known as a short squeeze on GameStop’s stock.
Essentially, short selling involves an investor borrowing shares of a company (usually from a broker dealer), before selling them back into the market. Short-sellers are betting that the borrowed stock they sold will drop in price and once it does, they snap them up for less money.
The short-seller then returns the stock to the lender and makes a profit by pocketing the difference between the sell price and buy price.
A short squeeze is a sudden increase in the price of a stock resulting in short-sellers buying back their stocks to cover their short positions, often resulting in billions of dollars lost for short-sellers.
According to the latest research, the number of profits generated from short-selling positions is quite low compared with the losses. In fact, in 2020, the 10 stocks that generated the most profit from the short position totalled an estimated US$9.75 billion.
Trading Platforms noted that as of January 2021, PubMatic Inc’s stock has the most short-sell positions by share of float shorted. Next on that list is American movie theatre franchise AMC Entertainment, with 66.06 per cent of their total float having been shorted.
RELATED ARTICLES
About the author
About the author
Shares
DREST gears up for innovation with the appointment of new co-CEO and CTO
Luxury fashion and lifestyle mobile game DREST has announced significant leadership changes as it prepares for an exciting phase of development and expansion. Read more
Shares
Hope for investors scared by share and crypto crashes
As share markets and cryptocurrency take a beating following the tightening of monetary policy across the world, investors are contemplating their next move. Read more
Shares
Cannon-Brookes tries to block AGL demerger
Mike Cannon-Brookes is not giving up on AGL after the latter announced 15 June as the date of the demerger vote. Read more
Shares
Qantas set to acquire Alliance Aviation
The two airlines have entered into a scheme implementation deed. Read more
Shares
Bond and share investors may shrug off RBA’s rate hike
As mortgage holders reel from the prospect of having to reach deeper into their hip pockets to make bigger repayments following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) interest rate hike from 0Read more
Shares
How to buy Shares: A beginner’s guide in 2022
So you want to get in on the stock market action? Congratulations, that’s an exciting step! But first, there are a few things you should know before you buy your first shares. Read more
Shares
Elon Musk chokes up on bid to swallow Twitter
The battle of the bird has intensified over the last week, as Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has ramped up his aggressive campaign to buy the entirety of social media giant, Twitter. Read more
Shares
How to Make Money in Short Selling
What is short selling? There is a common practice for people who actively trade in the stock market, which is to “buy low and sell high”, but what if you can still make money by doing the opposite? Read more
Shares
DREST gears up for innovation with the appointment of new co-CEO and CTO
Luxury fashion and lifestyle mobile game DREST has announced significant leadership changes as it prepares for an exciting phase of development and expansion. Read more
Shares
Hope for investors scared by share and crypto crashes
As share markets and cryptocurrency take a beating following the tightening of monetary policy across the world, investors are contemplating their next move. Read more
Shares
Cannon-Brookes tries to block AGL demerger
Mike Cannon-Brookes is not giving up on AGL after the latter announced 15 June as the date of the demerger vote. Read more
Shares
Qantas set to acquire Alliance Aviation
The two airlines have entered into a scheme implementation deed. Read more
Shares
Bond and share investors may shrug off RBA’s rate hike
As mortgage holders reel from the prospect of having to reach deeper into their hip pockets to make bigger repayments following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) interest rate hike from 0Read more
Shares
How to buy Shares: A beginner’s guide in 2022
So you want to get in on the stock market action? Congratulations, that’s an exciting step! But first, there are a few things you should know before you buy your first shares. Read more
Shares
Elon Musk chokes up on bid to swallow Twitter
The battle of the bird has intensified over the last week, as Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has ramped up his aggressive campaign to buy the entirety of social media giant, Twitter. Read more
Shares
How to Make Money in Short Selling
What is short selling? There is a common practice for people who actively trade in the stock market, which is to “buy low and sell high”, but what if you can still make money by doing the opposite? Read more
